User Guide Cancel

Working with timecode

Search
Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro

Open app
  1. Adobe Premiere Pro User Guide
  2. Beta releases
    1. Beta Program Overview
    2. Premiere Pro Beta Home
    3. Beta features
      1. Generative extend overview 
      2. Generative extend FAQs
      3. Color management system
  3. Getting started
    1. Get started with Adobe Premiere Pro
    2. What's new in Premiere Pro
    3. Best practices for updating Premiere Pro
    4. Keyboard shortcuts in Premiere Pro
    5. Accessibility in Premiere Pro
    6. Frequently asked questions
    7. Release notes
  4. Hardware and operating system requirements
    1. Hardware recommendations
    2. System requirements
    3. GPU and GPU Driver requirements
    4. GPU Accelerated Rendering & Hardware Encoding/Decoding
  5. Creating projects
    1. Start a new project
    2. Open projects
    3. Move and delete projects
    4. Work with multiple open projects
    5. Work with Project Shortcuts
    6. Backward compatibility of Premiere Pro projects
    7. Open and edit Premiere Rush projects in Premiere Pro
    8. Best Practices: Create your own project templates
  6. Workspaces and workflows
    1. Workspaces
    2. Import and export FAQs
    3. Working with Panels
    4. Windows touch and gesture controls
    5. Use Premiere Pro in a dual-monitor setup
  7. Frame.io
    1. Install and activate Frame.io
    2. Use Frame.io with Premiere Pro and After Effects
    3. Integrate Adobe Workfront and Frame.io
    4. Share for review with Frame.io
    5. Invite collaborators to co-edit a project
    6. Frequently asked questions
  8. Import media
    1. Importing
      1. Transfer files
      2. Importing still images
      3. Importing digital audio
    2. Importing from Avid or Final Cut
      1. Importing AAF project files from Avid Media Composer
      2. Importing XML project files from Final Cut Pro 7 and Final Cut Pro X
    3. File formats
      1. Supported file formats
      2. Support for Blackmagic RAW
    4. Working with timecode
  9. Editing
    1. Edit video
    2. Sequences
      1. Create and change sequences
      2. Set In and Out points in the Source Monitor
      3. Add clips to sequences
      4. Rearrange and move clips
      5. Find, select, and group clips in a sequence
      6. Remove clips from a sequence
      7. Change sequence settings
      8. Edit from sequences loaded into the Source Monitor
      9. Simplify sequences
      10. Rendering and previewing sequences
      11. Working with markers
      12. Add markers to clips
      13. Create markers in Effect Controls panel
      14. Set default marker colors
      15. Find, move, and delete markers
      16. Show or hide markers by color
      17. View marker comments
      18. Copy and paste sequence markers
      19. Sharing markers with After Effects
      20. Source patching and track targeting
      21. Scene edit detection
    3. Cut and trim clips
      1. Split or cut clips
      2. Trim clips
      3. Edit in Trim mode
      4. Perform J cuts and L cuts
      5. Create and play clips
      6. Adjust Trimming and Playback preferences
    4. Video
      1. Synchronizing audio and video with Merge Clips
      2. Render and replace media
      3. Undo, history, and events
      4. Freeze and hold frames
      5. Working with aspect ratios
    5. Audio
      1. Overview of audio in Premiere Pro
      2. Edit audio clips in the Source Monitor
      3. Audio Track Mixer
      4. Adjusting volume levels
      5. Edit, repair, and improve audio using Essential Sound panel
      6. Enhance Speech
      7. Enhance Speech FAQs
      8. Audio Category Tagging
      9. Automatically duck audio
      10. Remix audio
      11. Monitor clip volume and pan using Audio Clip Mixer
      12. Audio balancing and panning
      13. Advanced Audio - Submixes, downmixing, and routing
      14. Audio effects and transitions
      15. Working with audio transitions
      16. Apply effects to audio
      17. Measure audio using the Loudness Radar effect
      18. Recording audio mixes
      19. Editing audio in the timeline
      20. Audio channel mapping in Premiere Pro
      21. Use Adobe Stock audio in Premiere Pro
    6. Text-Based Editing
      1. Text-Based Editing
      2. Text-Based Editing FAQs
    7. Advanced editing
      1. Multi-camera editing workflow
      2. Editing VR
    8. Best Practices
      1. Best Practices: Mix audio faster
      2. Best Practices: Editing efficiently
      3. Editing workflows for feature films
  10. Video Effects and Transitions
    1. Overview of video effects and transitions
    2. Effects
      1. Types of effects in Premiere Pro
      2. Apply and remove effects
      3. Use FX badges
      4. Effect presets
      5. Metadata effect in Premiere Pro
      6. Automatically reframe video for different social media channels
      7. Color correction effects
      8. Effects Manager
      9. Change duration and speed of clips
      10. Adjustment Layers
      11. Stabilize footage
    3. Transitions
      1. Applying transitions in Premiere Pro
      2. Modifying and customizing transitions
      3. Morph Cut
  11. Titles, Graphics, and Captions
    1. Properties panel
      1. About Properties panel
      2. Edit text
      3. Edit shapes
      4. Edit audio
      5. Edit video
      6. Mask with shape
      7. Create, apply, and redefine text styles
    2. Essential Graphics panel (24.x and earlier) 
      1. Overview of the Essential Graphics panel
      2. Create a title
      3. Linked and Track Styles
      4. Working with style browser
      5. Create a shape
      6. Draw with the Pen tool
      7. Align and distribute objects
      8. Change the appearance of text and shapes
      9. Apply gradients
      10. Add Responsive Design features to your graphics
      11. Speech to Text
      12. Download language packs for transcription
      13. Working with captions
      14. Check spelling and Find and Replace
      15. Export text
      16. Speech to Text FAQs
    3. Motion Graphics Templates
      1. Install and use Motion Graphics templates
      2. Replace images or videos in Motion Graphics templates
      3. Use data-driven Motion Graphics templates
    4. Best Practices: Faster graphics workflows
    5. Retiring the Legacy Titler FAQs
    6. Upgrade Legacy titles to Source Graphics
  12. Fonts and emojis
    1. Color fonts
    2. Emojis
  13. Animation and Keyframing
    1. Adding, navigating, and setting keyframes
    2. Animating effects
    3. Use Motion effect to edit and animate clips
    4. Optimize keyframe automation
    5. Moving and copying keyframes
    6. Viewing and adjusting effects and keyframes
  14. Compositing
    1. Compositing, alpha channels, and adjusting clip opacity
    2. Masking and tracking
    3. Blending modes
  15. Color Correction and Grading
    1. Overview: Color workflows in Premiere Pro
    2. Color Settings
    3. Auto Color
    4. Get creative with color using Lumetri looks
    5. Adjust color using RGB and Hue Saturation Curves
    6. Correct and match colors between shots
    7. Using HSL Secondary controls in the Lumetri Color panel
    8. Create vignettes
    9. Looks and LUTs
    10. Lumetri scopes
    11. Display Color Management
    12. Timeline tone mapping
    13. HDR for broadcasters
    14. Enable DirectX HDR support
  16. Exporting media
    1. Export video
    2. Export Preset Manager
    3. Workflow and overview for exporting
    4. Quick export
    5. Exporting for the Web and mobile devices
    6. Export a still image
    7. Exporting projects for other applications
    8. Exporting OMF files for Pro Tools
    9. Export to Panasonic P2 format
    10. Export settings
      1. Export settings reference
      2. Basic Video Settings
      3. Encoding Settings
    11. Best Practices: Export faster
  17. Collaborative editing
    1. Collaboration in Premiere Pro
    2. Get started with collaborative video editing
    3. Create Team Projects
    4. Add and manage media in Team Projects
    5. Invite and manage collaborators
    6. Share and manage changes with collaborators
    7. View auto saves and versions of Team Projects
    8. Manage Team Projects
    9. Linked Team Projects
    10. Frequently asked questions
  18. Long form and Episodic workflows
    1. Long Form and Episodic Workflow Guide
    2. Using Productions
    3. How clips work across projects in a Production
    4. Best Practices: Working with Productions
  19. Working with other Adobe applications
    1. After Effects and Photoshop
    2. Dynamic Link
    3. Audition
    4. Prelude
  20. Organizing and Managing Assets
    1. Working in the Project panel
    2. Organize assets in the Project panel
    3. Playing assets
    4. Search assets
    5. Creative Cloud Libraries
    6. Sync Settings in Premiere Pro
    7. Consolidate, transcode, and archive projects
    8. Managing metadata
    9. Best Practices
      1. Best Practices: Learning from broadcast production
      2. Best Practices: Working with native formats
  21. Improving Performance and Troubleshooting
    1. Set preferences
    2. Reset and restore preferences
    3. Recovery Mode
    4. Working with Proxies
      1. Proxy overview
      2. Ingest and Proxy Workflow
    5. Check if your system is compatible with Premiere Pro
    6. Premiere Pro for Apple silicon
    7. Eliminate flicker
    8. Interlacing and field order
    9. Smart rendering
    10. Control surface support
    11. Best Practices: Working with native formats
    12. Knowledge Base
      1. Known issues
      2. Fixed issues
      3. Fix Premiere Pro crash issues
      4. Unable to migrate settings after updating Premiere Pro
      5. Green and pink video in Premiere Pro or Premiere Rush
      6. How do I manage the Media Cache in Premiere Pro?
      7. Fix errors when rendering or exporting
      8. Troubleshoot issues related to playback and performance in Premiere Pro
  22. Extensions and plugins
    1. Installing plugins and extensions in Premiere Pro
    2. Latest plugins from third-party developers
  23. Video and audio streaming
    1. Secure Reliable Transport (SRT)
  24. Monitoring Assets and Offline Media
    1. Monitoring assets
      1. Using the Source Monitor and Program Monitor
      2. Using the Reference Monitor
    2. Offline media
      1. Working with offline clips
      2. Creating clips for offline editing
      3. Relinking offline media

Timecode is a system for labelling and tracking individual frames or moments in a video sequence.

Timecode is expressed in hours, minutes, seconds, and frames and is used to precisely locate and synchronize different elements within a video project.

Importance of timecode

 

Timecode is essential for multiple reasons:

  • It helps you to log and track specific moments in media content, making it easier to search, catalog, and retrieve specific scenes or clips for future reference.
  • Manage multiple video and audio tracks, making it possible to align/synchronize them and edit them precisely. 
  • Timecode is critical when multiple teams or individuals work on the same project. It provides a common reference point for everyone involved, ensuring they work with the same timebase.

For best results, timecode should run continuously from the beginning to the end of the recording — it shouldn’t restart from zero anywhere in the middle.

Tips to shoot with unbroken timecode

To ensure unbroken timecode:

  • Use professional cameras and audio recorders that have built-in timecode generators.
  • Monitor the timecode on your cameras and audio recorders. Check that it’s running continuously without any timecode breaks.
  • Record at least five seconds of extra video past the end of the action in any shot.

Choose timecode display format

By default, Premiere Pro displays the timecode for any clip originally written to the source medium. 

Source timecode is shown for a clip regardless of the timebase of the sequences in which it's used. When the clip's timebase differs from the sequence's timebase, source timecode can make logging footage easier. For example, a clip shot in 24p has a timebase of 30 fps and 30 fps timecode. Premiere Pro shows that clip's original 30 fps timecode, even though it's used in a sequence with a timebase of 23.976. However, you can change this default to show the timecode for every clip starting at 00:00:00:00 instead.

Also, you can determine how Premiere Pro displays the frame count when a Frames or Feet and Frames display is chosen for a panel. You can make the frame count for every clip start at 0 or at 1, or you can have it converted from the source timecode. If a frame in a 30-fps clip has a source timecode of 00:00:10:00 the Timecode Conversion option gives this frame number 300. Premiere Pro converts 10 seconds at the 30-fps frame rate to 300 frames.

  1. Select Edit > Preferences > Media (Windows) or Premiere Pro > Preferences > Media (macOS).

    Select Use Media Source for Timecode to show the timecode from the media source.

  2. In the Timecode menu, choose one of the following:

    Use Media Source

    Shows the timecode recorded to the source.

    Start At 00:00:00:00

    Starts timecode shown for every clip at 00:00:00:00.

    Select Start at 0 for Frame Count to start numbering frames from 0.

  3. In the Frame Count menu, choose one of the following:

    Start At 0

    Numbers every frame sequentially, with the first frame numbered 0.

    Start At 1

    Numbers every frame sequentially, with the first frame numbered 1.

    Timecode Conversion

    Generates frame number equivalents of the source timecode numbers.

  4. Select OK.

Change timecode display format

You can change the timecode display format in any panel where timecode is shown in hot text.

  1. To display timecode in audio units (Audio Samples or Milliseconds), select the panel menu button in the Timeline panel, and then select Show Audio Time Units.

    Use the Show Audio Time Units to display timecode in audio units.

  2. You can specify Premiere Pro to display timecode in audio units (Audio Samples or Milliseconds) using Project Settings – File > Project Settings > Audio > Display Format.

    Use the Display Format option under Audio to specify the timecode format.

  3. Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (macOS) a hot text timecode display to toggle through any available timecode formats.

    • Drop-Frame
    • Non-Drop-Frame
    • Feet + Frames 16mm
    • Feet + Frames 35mm
    • Frames

The timecode display format for the Program Monitor (including the instance in the Trim Monitor) and Timeline panels always match one another. Changing the display format in one of these panels changes it in the other.

Set clip timecode manually

You can change the timecode from that recorded by Premiere Pro. 

  1. Select the clip in the Project panel.

  2. Choose Clip > Modify > Timecode, specify options as needed, and select OK.

Note:

If your workflow relies on modifying the source clips using Modify Timecode, do not use proxies in Premiere Pro. Doing so will result in unexpected behavior.

Enter timecode

As you edit video, you enter timecode values many times. Timecode values are unique identifiers for each frame of video and are made up of four parts: hours, minutes, seconds, and frames. For example, you enter timecode values to set In and Out points for clips and to navigate to a Timeline panel. Premiere Pro provides many ways to enter timecodes.

In Premiere Pro, the duration between the In and Out points includes the frames indicated by the timecode. For example, if you enter the same timecode for the In and Out points of a clip, the duration of the clip is one frame. When entering the timecode, you can substitute periods for colons or type numbers without punctuation. Premiere Pro interprets the numbers you type as hours, minutes, seconds, and frames.

  • To set a specific timecode, select the timecode, type a new timecode, and then press Enter or Return.

  • To adjust the current timecode by dragging, drag the timecode horizontally. For example, to set the timecode earlier, drag to the left.
  • To adjust the current timecode by using a relative value, type the plus sign or minus sign and the number of frames to add or subtract. For example, to subtract five frames from the current timecode, select the entire timecode, type – 5, and press Enter or Return.
  • Use shorthand substitutes while entering timecode. When entering the timecode, you can use shorthand substitutes affixed with a period. Premiere Pro interprets the numbers you type as hours, minutes, seconds, and frames.

Examples of shorthand substitutes:

  • 1. moves the CTI to position 00:00:01:00
  • 2. moves the CTI to position 00:02:00:00
  • .1 moves the CTI to position 00:00:00:01
  • .24 moves the CTI to position 00:00:01:00 for a 23.976 fps sequence
  • .1234 moves the CTI to position 00:00:51:10 for a 23.976 fps sequence

View timecode as a burn-in

You can display a clip’s timecode within the video preview by applying the Metadata & Timecode Burn-in effect to that clip. Timecode can also be displayed in the video preview of any part of a sequence by applying the Metadata & Timecode Burn-in effect to a transparent video clip, which can be clipped for the period when you want the timecode visible. The onscreen timecode is commonly referred to as the burn-in timecode. It's used in rough edits and proofs to give frame-accurate reference points to editors and their collaborators.

For more information, see Metadata & Timecode Burn-in effect.

View source timecode in the Program Monitor

You can display the source timecode in the Program Monitor preview for clips in a sequence as you edit:

  • If you trim a clip, the clip’s source timecode is displayed.

  • If you perform a slide edit, the new source media's In and Out points for the adjacent clips are displayed.

  • If you perform a slip edit, the clip’s new source media's In and Out points are displayed.

Select Timecode Overlay During Edit from the Program Monitor menu.

Select the Timecode Overlay During Edit to enable timecode even in Program Monitor.

A check mark indicates that the command is selected.

View timecode in the Timecode panel

You can view timecode in the Timecode panel. To view the Timecode panel, choose Window > Timecode.

The Timecode panel offers multiple options to work with.

Sequence Display

Specifies how the timecode should be displayed and its behavior in the Timeline panel and Program Monitor.

  • Current Time: The main master timecode.
  • Absolute: Timecode that always starts at zero at the beginning and increments one frame at a time.
  • Duration: Total duration of your timeline.
  • In/Out: Indications for the In and Out range.
  • Remaining: Indication of the remaining time from the Current Time Indicator (CTI) to the end of your sequence.
  • Top Clip Name: Indicates the top clip name under the CTI.

Source Tracks Display

Source Tracks contain a specific number of video and audio tracks on a timeline. You can select any track to view the source timecodes for the selected track.

Format Display

You can use the Format options to change the default timebase format or to view the timecode in Frames or Feet.

Compact Display

In Compact view, Premiere Pro only changes the label's color, but there is no tag.

Full Size

If the timecode panel is set to Full Size view, Premiere Pro displays a tag when a different format is selected and changes the label color from white to orange.

Other display options

  • Add Line and Remove Line: Adds or removes one timecode line
  • Compact and Full Size: Switches the UI of the Timecode panel from compact to full-sized
  • Save Preset: Saves different timecode layouts and assign shortcut to presets.
  • Manage Presets: Assigns different shortcuts to presets or delete presets.

To increase the size of the Timecode panel, drag the lower right corner of the window outward.

More like this

 Adobe

Get help faster and easier

New user?

Quick links

View all your plans Manage your plans
View quick links
Hide quick links

Legal Notices    |    Online Privacy Policy